1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to an improved means for preventing dripping from outer surfaces, including vessels designed to house liquids, onto other surfaces. More specifically, the present invention relates to a novel enhanced apparatus, method and system for precluding undesired leakage, dripping, or the like liquid transmissions, from the external surfaces of articles, particularly those used to house, transport and enable potable liquids to be consumed.
Commercial success has yet to be achieved for use of a supplemental absorptive strip means issuing and placed over a lower section of desired cup, in spite of the long history of failed attempts. Likewise, the instant teachings mitigate or completely control the unaddressed problem of condensate and the like dripping from drinking vessel onto users.
2. Prior Art Patents
Attention is called to the following United States Letters Patents and foreign publications, each of which has been examined and found to be inventively different than the instant teachings:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,425,497; 5,645,196; NL 6611523; DT 1429226;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,182; FR 1377535; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,065,589; 4,681,239;
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,540,611; 3,103,295; 5,925,466; 5,693,714;
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,415,499; 4,948,443; 4,756,337; 2,617,549; and, U.S. Pat. No. 973,085;
during searches conducted with access to the Examiner""s foreign art collection, inter alia.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,497 (the ""497 patent) issued for the JAVA JACKET(copyright), an insulating sleeve for hot beverage containers that shields a user""s hands from the sameThe ""497 patent, as in at least half of the art reviewed in conjunction with the instant filing, it relates to insulating means that circle cups. It shows that invention is still available even within the narrowed and highly patented field of art defined by the instant teachings. In contradistinction to the instant subject matter, however, the materials are not shown to include plastic or rubber based compounds.
Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,239 (the ""239 patent) issued to Roman Products on Jul. 21, 1987 showed an insulating container for liquids having an annular sealing member of resilient cellular material. The ""239 patent is distinguished from the instant teachings in that it has a rim on its outer surface of an elongated annular side wall that is partially axially in register with an annular recess.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,182 (the ""182 patent) issued Dec. 28, 1993 for a COASTER to Laybourne. The ""182 patent was targeted at applicants problem, but in lieu of providing an elegantly simple solution, disclosed mechanically questionable and over-engineered coupling devices to attempt to join an absorbent member with a multiplicity of interconnected capillary spaces.
Unlike the ""182 patent, the teachings of the present invention present a variety of variations on the xe2x80x98one-size fits allxe2x80x99 theme, with no need for overly elaborate (expensive, and failure-prone) mechanical coupling add-ons.
German Offenlegungsschrift 1429226 from Feb. 6, 1969 showed a disposable Beaker cup consisting of a thin-walled plastic beaker along with a re-useable holder. This disclosure is markedly different from the instant teachings requiring at least two pieces and at least one inner ring shaped element. This teaching does show elastic deformation as its sole common element with the teachings of the present invention, which may be injected, molded cut and pasted or likewise fabricated from one unitary piece.
Likewise, Pontneau-Plastic S.A. garnered French Patent No. 1,377,535 for a goblet having a disposable attachment that may have served to limit movement as claimed in the patent, in addition to acting a coaster means for mitigating spills. Unlike the instant teachings, however, this invention included an aperture on the ventral surface and its primary function was to render the goblet immobile on a resting surface.
Two separate problems relating to the containment of cold liquids in open vessels are addressed by the teachings of this invention. The first problem is that of spillage. It is well known that a liquid in a nearly full open vessel can spill over the edges if the vessel is placed in certain positions. This is so because a liquid contained in a vessel will assume the shape of the vessel except for the upper surface of the liquid, which will assume the form of a plane parallel to the plane of the surface of the earth.
Thus, if the vessel is oriented or tipped in such a manner that it does not completely enclose the aforesaid upper surface of the liquid, the liquid will spill out of the vessel. Such tipping can occur in an instant of time, so that spillage is a common problem particularly in the use of drinking vessels such as cups, beakers, glasses and the like.
The second problem experienced by users of vessels containing cold liquids is the problem of condensation, or dew formation. As used in this discussion, the term dew includes any kind of condensation of water on a surface. Dew is a thin film of water that has condensed on surface of objects. Dew forms when cold objects cool the shallow. The term condensation refers to a change from the gaseous state of a substance to the liquid state. In the present case, the condensation occurs because the capacity of air to hold water vapor decreases as the air is cooled. The temperature at which condensation begins, for a sample of air with a given water vapor content, is termed the dew point. In general, rooms in which many people are present will have a relatively high dew point because of the high content of water vapor in exhaled breath. Likewise, outdoors on a warm day on which cold drinks are particularly desirable, the dew point will be relatively high.
From this brief discussion it will be clear that both the problems of spillage and dew formation as discussed above can be ameliorated in related ways. Small amounts of liquid that are spilled over the rim of a vessel, and small amounts of dew can be absorbed by a suitable medium. This absorption occurs by several physical processes, including capillary action and adsorption. These processes can be explained by considering the effects of two opposing forces: adhesion, the attractive force between the molecules of fluid and the material, and cohesion, the attractive force between the molecules of the fluid. Thus, provision of a suitable structure and medium for absorbing spillage and dew is one mechanism underlying the teachings of this invention.
In addition, on the basis of the mechanism of dew formation on the surface of a vessel containing a cold liquid described above, dew formation can be inhibited by insulation means for decreasing the transfer of heat to the vessel surface from the layer Of overlying air in contact with that surface.
What has been discovered is that in combining a flexible grip, the right materials and a reusable and environmentally friendly molded, injected, sprayed, layered or painted coating an ultimately consumer friendly apparatus, having memory, absorbency and low cost can be offered for consideration.
Attention is called first to traditional or conventional xe2x80x98coastersxe2x80x99 or generally planar objects designed to shield a piece of furniture""s surface from the bottom of a drinking cup. Unlike the instant teachings, such devices do not protect other crucial surfaces (such as a user""s clothing, for example) from those undesired aliquots escaping, for example, from a cup.
The COZIES(copyright) brand of beverage cooler (San Diego County, Calif.), has not been found to include solid ventral surfaces, in contradistinction to the instant teachings. Beverage insulators generally focus on covering the majority of the surface area of a bottle or canxe2x80x94where the majority of the heat would be transferred. No attention to the bottom portion is shown in such disclosures, nor is it suggested how or why the same could be relevant to such design at a technical level.
In short, despite the numerous attempts to innovate within this area, as shown by the many patents asserted to be related to these ideas, a longstanding need to protect both precious surfaces and users"" clothing from the ravages of dripping liquids remains ineffectively addressed prior to the advent of the instant teachings. U.S. Letters Patent references offered herein for consideration, but not distinguished in detail merely define the state of the art or show the type of systems which have been used to alternately address those issues ameliorated by the teachings of the present invention. Accordingly, further discussions of these references has been omitted at this time due to the fact that they are readily distinguishable from the instant teachings to one of skill in the art.
The present invention is for a selectively absorbent apparatus that is attached to another device and absorbs undesired liquid. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the other device is a drinking vessel and the teachings of the present invention comprise a flexible assembly form fitted to the bottom of the vessel, which stops condensation from, for example, drinking glasses from dripping onto any undesired surface, including liquid and oil sensitive surfaces and the clothing of a user.
The apparatus of the invention is advantageously constructed of foamed plastic, wherein said foamed plastic is a synthetic resin converted into a flexible sponge-like mass with an open-cell structure. Under known appropriate conditions, certain thermosetting or thermoplastic resin can be converted into a flexible sponge-like foam. Such plastics include, vinyls, polyethylene, silicones, cellulose acetate, and urethanes. Appropriate conditions for producing open cell plastics comprise incorporating an inert gas into the resin under pressure and then releasing the mixture to atmospheric pressure, followed by curing the resultant foam.
Alternatively, the apparatus of the invention may be made of foam rubber, also called sponge rubber or latex foam, wherein said foam rubber is a flexible, porous substance made from a natural or synthetic latex compounded with various well known ingredients and whipped into a foam. The resulting product contains roughly about 85 percent air and 15 percent rubber and can be molded and vulcanized.
Alternatively, the apparatus of the invention may be made of a member selected from the group known as sanitary papers or sanitary grades, whereby a disposable product is produced. Sanitary papers include paper toweling of various thicknesses and are made from various proportions of sulfite and bleached kraft pulps with relatively little refining of the stock to preserve a soft, bulky absorbent sheet which may be creped. Because of the bulky texture of sanitary papers, the paper is advantageously treated with resins to provide an embodiment of the invention with a smooth, printable outer surface having a highly absorbent core and good thermal insulating properties.
Briefly stated, FLEX GRIP mimpi apparatus, system and method functions with articles including any and all beverage containers to mitigate and/or preclude undesired transmission of liquids by selectively absorbing the same in an open celled medium bordered by a waterproofed layer. In a particularly preferred embodiment dimensional sizing is featured to lockingly or matingly engage, and completely cover a bottom portion and selected side portions of, for example, a pint glass. Likewise, environmentally-friendly aspects include use of recyclables, saving on wasted-paper, and use for example, of old wetsuit material to make an industrially and economically efficient means for preventing drippage, condensate and the like liquid based insults to clothes and surface materials.
According to a most preferred embodiment in a strip of material issuing from and encircling a bottom peripheral aspect of another member to prevent dripping therefrom, the improvement comprising, in combination, a means for absorbing liquid; memory means for maintaining at least about a predetermined diameter; and a display means for receiving desired images.
According to a preferred embodiment, FLEX GRIP mimpi comprising an open-celled material surrounds a region adjacent to and the bottom portion of any article including a vessel holding liquid and fittingly engages with such bottom portion to absorb both minor over-spillings and any condensate being pulled toward a user by gravity from the outer surface of the vessel.
According to a feature of the present invention there is provided FLEX GRIP mimpi apparatus comprising, in combination; a flexible variably absorbent saucer means for completely surrounding and fittingly engaging a bottom region of a vessel, having at least an inner and an outer surface, dimensioned to matingly engage the vessel, whereby a substantially planar angle is maintained with a resting surface when the apparatus is emplaced and disposed in predetermined special orientation relative to the vessel.
According to another feature of the present invention thereis provided A system for preventing undesired dripping and spilling, comprising; a preformed cupping means for engaging a predetermined vessel""s bottom portion whereby an angle at the central axis of the vessel is maintained in substantially orthogonal relationship to a desired plane upon which the vessel is disposed.
According to yet still another feature of the present invention there is provided, a method for preventing undesired transmission of liquids, comprising the steps of; providing an absorbent female means having a coated outer surface for matingly engaging a ventral surface and selected portions defining an adjacent peripheral zone of an article permitting said absorbent female means to selectively absorb liquid; and selectively removing, rinsing or washing and replacing said absorbent female means, as needed.
According to yet still another aspect of the invention there is provided a process for creating FLEX GRIP apparatus by selecting a portion of neoprene material having an outer waterproofed coating, parsing said neoprene into at least two sub-units, joining the at least two subunits with a means for adhesing selected from the group consisting of cementing, velcro-ed closure, annealing and the like joinder systems.
The above described and many other features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which related reference designators bare common, or identical numbers.